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By Donald H. Harrison, San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
Photo: Rabbi Hanan Leberman in Israel in 2018. Image from American Jewish Committee video
January 19, 2026 (San Diego) - The rabbi of a local synagogue was disinvited from delivering a closing message at the All People’s Breakfast in Balboa Park Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., drawing criticism from San Diego’s Jewish community.
Rabbi Hanan Leberman of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Carlos posted on Facebook Saturday that rescinding the invitation was “due to my connection to Israel,” where he studied to be a cantor and then rabbi and served in the Israel Defense Forces.
As a result, no Jewish clergy spoke at the annual event, which is now in its 38th year.
In his Facebook post, Leberman thanked Alliance San Diego for the initial invitation, but said rescinding it “runs counter to Dr. King’s message.”
"When I agreed to participate in this event, I did so fully aware that I would be sharing a stage with individuals whose politics and ideas I do not always share,” he wrote. “That, to me, is precisely the work Dr. King called us to do: sharing space with those with whom we disagree, seeking common ground, and recommitting ourselves to the dream that all people are treated equally.”
In its own posting on Facebook on Sunday, Alliance San Diego said that “in response to concerns about potential disruption related to Zionism and anti-Zionism, we made the difficult decision to ask two invited speakers to step away from their speaking roles.”
The community organization acknowledged that amid rising antisemitism “our decision contributed to that pain rather than alleviating it” and vowed to work to “bridge a divided community.”
The Finest Community Coalition, composed of 45 local Jewish organizations, posted a letter on Facebook explaining that a connection to Israel is central to Jewish identity.
“The decision to disinvite him was not based on new information, but on the growing unwillingness to include Jews who openly affirm this part of their identity,” the coalition wrote. “This is especially painful at a time that Jews are the religious group most targeted by hate and violence in our county and coming in the same week that a synagogue was firebombed in Mississippi.”
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
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